Apparatus for locating shank stiffeners in shoe soles



May 13, 1924. 1,493,950

R. E. BARTELS APPARATUS Fon LocATlNG ysm'mx STIFFENERS 1N sHoE soLEs original Filed An'rilvae, 1920 Patented May i3, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT orificeo REINHARD E. BARTELS, OIE LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR LOCATING SHANK kSTIFFEN'EILS IN SHOE SCLES.

Original application led April 26, 1920,*Seria1 No. 376,683. Divided and this application led May 17, 1922. Serial No. 561,591.

To all 'ru/om 'it may cof/wem.'

Be it known that I, REINHARD E. BAR- 'rnLs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented new c and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Locating Shank Stiffeners in'Shoe Soles, of which the following is a speciiication.A

In attaching rigid shank stiffeners to shoe soles, the forward end of the sha-nk stifi'ener should be located a short distance back of or below7 the break line in `order that the resiliency of the shoe at the break line may not be impaired and the shoe thereby ruined.

The shank stiffener .is attached to the shank of the sole while the sole is flat and before it has been shaped to its inalform, and for this reason it is diflicult to judge when locating the stiffener, where the break line will be on the sole when the shoe is completed. Consequently, many soles have been spoiled by the location of the shank stiifener too far forward or too far back, relative to the break line, in the iirst instance, destroying the resiliency of kthe sole at the break line, and in the second, throwing oif the tread of the heel, either of which faults is undesirable from the standpoint of good workmanship, if not fatal to the usefulness of the shoe.

One object of my invention is to overcome these diihculties by producing a gaging apparatus, whereby the workman can quickly and accurately locate the shank stift'- ener on a sole of a given style and size.

Another object of my invention is to provide means whereby when the desired point, for the end of the shank stifpi'ener, on a sole of one size of a certain style has been located, the corresponding point for any` other size of that same style may be readily located. 1

A still further'object is to produce mechanical means whereby the desired point in any given sole may be readily and accurately located.

A further object is to provide a mecha- `nism by which the stiener may be placed in proper position on the sole and then readily attached thereto.

This application is division of application Serial No. 376,633 filed April 26, 1920 desired point on the sole of a shoe, but the particular use for which it is designed is to locate a point on the shank of a sole of given style and size at whichy the forward end of a shank stiffener, to be attached thereto, should terminate. t I

`In actual practice, this point is located on the sole, about one-fourth of an inch b ack of the break line.

The accurate location of 'this point by `mechanical means is made possible Aby the fact that the forepart of the sole, i. e., from the toe to the break line, varies in length by approximately one-sixth of au .inch for each change of full size ofthe shoe, regardless of style. Therefore, if a point is selected on the` sole of a shoe of any known style and size, called for. convenience the selected sole, and it is desired to locate the corresponding peint on a sole of a different size of the same style.

"called for convenience the problem sole,

one proceeds as follows: First., the distance from the toe to the break line is'ineasurcd t on the selected sole, and then the distance l Slidably arranged on the forward. end lof y a pla-te` lOlis a gageor locating plate 17, the side edges 19 of which are beveled out-- wardly to fit slidably in the complement-al undercut inner edge of gudeways 20 and c EEO 21. These guideways may be formed integral with the plate 10, or, as shown, may be attached thereto by means of screws and extend lfrom the forward end thereof rea-rwardly along the edges for about half the length of the plate. The slide 17 is provided with a curved recess 18 in the edge thereof toward the rear of the plate 10. This recess may be of such contour and size as to receive the toe of a sole of practically any style or size which may be placed on the plate.

The locating plate may have a scale 22 cut on onel of the side edges thereof, corresponding to the styles of shoes, say, from l to 16 inclusive, and the complemental guide member has a similar scale 23 on its inner edge adjacent to the graded side edge of the locating plate. The gradations of the scale on t-he guide member are so spaced that each full gradation is equal to the difference of length between the sole of one size of shoe and the next larger size, as stated above, one-sixth of an inch. Half grades, or half sizes, or any other fractional sizes may be indicated on this scale. The gradations of the scale 22 on the locating pla-te are arbitrary, and there may be as many to the inch as isl found convenient; the only requisite is that they be sufficient in number, so that one of the gradations on the slide may come approximately opposite a gradation on the guide member, corresponding to the size of the shoe sole when a key number on the slide is being found. The scale which indicates size may be called the size scale, and the full grades thereof, size numbers or size grades.

Located on the guide member 21 is a clamping member adapted to clamp the locating plate 17 in adjusted position. This clamping member comprises a washer 211 resting on the guide members 21, and a bolt 25 passing through the center thereof and screw-threaded into the guide member 21 and plate 10. This bolt is provided with a head 26 adapted to bear on the upper surface of the washer to cause it to clamp the slide in position. The head of the bolt may be turnedto and from clamping position by means of the lever arm 27 extending therefrom.

A bridge 80 is located a sufficient distance above the plate to allow the sole to be slipped thereunder and lies close enough to the sole to form an effective gage or abutment against which the forward end of the shank stilfener may be placed in locating it on the shank: of the sole. A guide 83 is adjustably mounted on the plate at one side thereof which may be set to properly position the sole' on the plate. As shown the rear end of the plate is recessed to receive 1a steel plate 12, which is fastened in place by means of screws 13, ory other suitable curing meansl A circular steel plug 28 is preferably countersunk into the plate 10 under the central portion of the rear edge of the bridge 80. The shape of this member is immaterial, however, and the purpose of the plug 28, and of the steel plate 12, is to present hard, durable surfaces beneath the sole placed on the plate at the points at which the tines which secure the shank support to the sole, pierce the leather and clinch. Tear on the plates at these points which would otherwise occur in the relatively soft met-al of plate 10, is thereby prevented. These steel members are not, however, essential parts of the invention, and may be dispensed with altogether. The plate l2 and the plug 28 may be made of tool steel, and may be referred to as wear plates.

The particular gradation of the locating plate 17, which comes opposite a gradation on the guide member for any given size, varies with the style of the shoe. ln order to find this gradat-ion for a given style, I first select a last of a known size. of the style in question, and measure the length of the forepart of the last, i. e., from the toe to the break line, and add to this, one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch for the overhang of the sole, that is, the distance that the sole extends beyond the last after the upper is pulled over the last; and one-quarter of an inch for the distance back of the break line at which the forward end of the shank stiffener is preferably to be located. I then mark of this distance forwardly along the plate 10 from the rear edge of the bridge 80 and set the location plate so that the apex o-f the curve or recess is located at the forward end of the measured line, and .clamp the locating plate ini, this position. The gradation on ythe locating plate which falls opposite the size number on the guideway 20, corresponding to the size number of the last selected. isf marked as at X to form the reference line, and is taken to be the key number for the given style. Thus in Figure 1 should a size 5 sole be used for the initial measurement, the gradation on the locating plate at m opposite line 5 is the desired reference line, and the locating plate is moved to bring this reference line opposite any other number on the scale 23 when a sole of the same style as the first, but of a size corresponding to that other number, is to be used.

Inasmuch as the sizes of all styles vary by a fixed distance, as above indicated, the position of the location plate for any other size of the given style is determined by merely bringing opposite vthe key number X, as found above, the gradation indicating that size on the size scale 23. The scale 22 on which the key number is located, may be known as the style scale, and the gradation thereon as style numbers, and may receive arbitrary symbols for the different styles. However, the style scale may be dispensed with altogether, and a mark made to indicate a key number for any given style when its location is determined by the above method. Or, for convenience, where a `manufacturer works on only a limited number of styles, the key number for each style may be found and permanently indicated on the locating plate as s uch.

'Io find the desired point at which the forward end of the shank stiifener is to be placed on a given size and style, all that is necessary is to bring the proper size number opposite the key number, as determined above, for that style, to place the sole on the plate with the toe touching the slide at the apex of the recess, against the guide 83 and beneath the bridge 80. The stiiener is then placed in the center line of the sole with its forward end abutting the rear edge of the bridge and with the attaching prongs extending downwardly. By striking the ends of the stii'ener with a hammer the prongs are driven through the sole and clinched against the wear pieces 12 and 28.

The location of the shank stiffener on the soles of a given size and style is in this manner very much simplified, and the device may be operated by boys and other unskilled labor, and the output is very much increased. The cost of production is correspondingly diminished.

In the above described device, I have produced a machine which has the advantage of being simple of operation and by means of which a desired point in the shank of a shoe sole of a given size and style may be readily and accurately determined, and by which the position of the corresponding point in a sole of any other size of the same style may be found.

Having thus described an embodiment of this invention it should be evident that many changes and modifications might be made therein without departing from its spirit or scope as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device for locating a desired point on a slice sole of a given size and style, comprising a plate on which the sole is placed, a slide on said plate, and said plate having a fixed point at which the desired point will be located when the slide is properly positioned for the given size and style, when the toe of the sole placed on the plate abuts against the slide, and a bridge extending across said plate, and having one edge above said fixed point.

2. A device for locating a shank stiffener with its forward end in a desired point on a shoe sole, which comprises a plate on which the sole is placed, a slide on said plate and against which the toe end of the sole may abut, said plate having gradations to indicate the yproper position ef said slide for shoes ofvario-us sizes, and a bridge extending across the sole in the' rear of said slide, the rear edge of said bridge deiining the position of the forward end of said stiffener when said slide is set with the corresponding size on such gradations.`

3. yA device for locating a shank stifiener `with its forward end in ay desired point o-n a shoe sole, i which comprises a plate on which the sole is placed, a slide on said plate and'against which the toe end of the sole may abut. said plate having gradations thereon to indicate theproper position of said slide for shoes of various sizes, a bridge extending across the sole in the rear of said slide, the rear edge of said bridge defining the position of the forward end of said stiffener when said slide is set with the correspending size on said gradations, and an abutment against which the side of the sole may be placed to correctly position it laterally on said plate.

4. A device for locating a shank stiffener with its forward end in a desired position on a shoe sole, which comprises a plate on and against which the toe end of the sole may abut, said plate having gradations thereony to indicate the proper position of said slide for shoes of various sizes, said slide having gradations for registry with said size gradations corresponding to various styles of shoes, and a bridge extending across the sole in the rear of said slide, the rear edge of said bridge defining the position of the forward end of said stiiener when said slide is set with size and style gradations in registry corresponding to the size and style of said shoe sole.

5. A device for locating a shank stifi'ener with its forward end in a desired position on a shoe sole, which comprises a plate on which the sole is placed, a slide on said plate and against which the toe end of the sole may abut, said plate having grada-tions to indicate the proper position of said slide for shoes of various sizes, said slide having gradations for registry with said size gradations corresponding to various styles of shoes, and a bridge extending across the sole in the rear of said slide, the rear edge of said bridge defining the position of the forward end of said stiffener when said slide is set with size and style gradations in regis try corresponding to the size and style of said shoe sole, and an adjustable abutment against which the side of the sole may be placed to position it laterally on said plate.

6. A device of the class described, cio-rnprising a. plate, a gage having a recessed rear face slidably carried by said plate adjacent one end, a bridge member fixed to said plate transverse to the direction of motion of said slide and under which the sole 'which the sole is placed, a slide on said plate v of a slioe may be placed with one end bearing in the recessed portion of said gage, and removable Wear pieces positioned in said plate belo-W the rear edge of said bridge and at the rear .end of said plate.

7. A device for locating a shank sti'fene'r with its forward end at a desired point of ya shoe sole of a given size and style, comprising a plate on Which the sole is placed, an abutment member for the toe of tlie shoe, a bridge member adapted to extend across the sole above and in eloseproximity thereto, when placed on said plate, to form an abutment for the forward end of the shank stienea one of Said members being adiuSt- 15 able, means to lool: said member in adjusted position so that Wlien shoe soles of the given size and style are placed on the plate with the toe abutting against the toe abutment, 1

In testimony whereof I have affixed my 25 signature.

REINHARD E. BARTELS. 

